Psalms 130
Sunday, 25 October 2020
“LORD, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive? But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you.” -Psalm 130: 3&4 [NLT]
This is a wonderful Psalm in which we can see a person’s repentance and his plea for mercy to the Lord. The writer of the psalm is very clear about his iniquities. He is also sure that he can never ever hide his iniquities from the Lord (V3) and he expects forgiveness from Him. He knows his Lord very well and realizes that if he will turn to his Lord, he will be forgiven (V4). How many of us have such an attitude towards God?
Here we have an outpouring of the heart which is deeply afflicted with the conviction of sin and a humble trust in God who can forgive the repentant sinner. In the fallen world we live in, it is easy to be lured and trapped into sins of various kinds. Some don’t realize it until they suffer the consequences; while others are brought to conviction from the hearing of God’s Word or their conscience. If only all humans would understand that nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light (Luke 8:17) it would give a sense of reverent fear to keep away from sin.
A sinful man, who is disobedient, deceived, enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures, full of malice and hatred doesn’t deserve an inch of kindness from a Holy and Just God. But “God is love” (1 John4:8) and He willingly extends His mercy to the repentant one who earnestly seeks Him. If the Lord kept a record of our wrongs against Him, we wouldn’t be able stand before Him (Ps.130:3). His mercy, which takes into consideration our frailty (Ps.103: 14) and our inability to save ourselves, is extended in His willingness to forgive our sins based on our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is willing to remove our sins as far as the east is from the west (Ps.103:12) and pardon us the minute we come to Him in genuine repentance, seeking His mercy.
The way of Redemption is given in Titus 3:5: “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.” It’s Jesus who delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to His kingdom (Col 1:13). Jesus bought us by paying a price (1Cor 6:20); He shed His precious blood on the cross and redeemed us (Rev 5:9). Anyone who wants to be redeemed, come to Jesus— He is the Way, the Truth and Life (John 14:6)
Dear friend, is any of your past sin bothering you, a guilty conscience trying to condemn you? Do you want to forget your past and move on? Do you want an assurance of forgiveness? The solution is very simple – TURN TO GOD –TURN TO THE LORD JESUS. Acts 10:43 say, “Everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.” The moment you turn with faith, the moment you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness (1John 1:9). Only He can set you free from the sin in which you were slaved to this day. God who is rich in mercy shows His kindness to us in Jesus Christ when we trust Him for being saved!
“Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan
Oh, the grace that brought it down to man
Oh, the gulf that God did span at Calvary
Mercy there was great and grace was free
Pardon there was multiplied to me
- - William R. Newell
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